


The Beatles Unreleased. All about the sleeve

by Erwinnitall



Category: The Beatles (Band)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24284293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erwinnitall/pseuds/Erwinnitall
Summary: In between Sergeant Peppers and the White Album the Beatles found time to record yet another album which they named 'the Unreleased'. They locked it up in a vault and set a date for the release. That moment is now. Read everything about the opening of the vault, the material that came out of it and read reviews of the songs on the Album. All completed with backgroundinformation, all about your favorite band.
Collections: The Beatles





	The Beatles Unreleased. All about the sleeve

Wow. I guess that was my first feeling when news of the bombshell that rocked the world first reached me. I guess I was in total shock and, to be honest, I am still. The Beatles have just released a new album. The FabFour, in original lineup, tracks never heard before, from right about the time that they were on the pivotal point of their career. I guess it’s fair to say that I was just a hyped as you readers are at this point. The big question that remains now is… What was in the vault? 

Together with just a few other competitors regarding the writing press around the world, Rolling Stone magazine got the amazing opportunity to get a first glance at the material released on May 5th. On the day of the not-so-grand opening of aforementioned vault, there was just a little crowd gathered at the address that is still to remain secret. The surviving Beatles, Ringo and Paul, were there, as was Yoko Ono, representing her late husband John Lennon. Two representatives blessed with the task of taking over David Jacobs’ job of keeping the vault and it’s treasures hidden to the specified date were also present. Added to that little crowd were 6 reporters of different media from across the globe, amongst others yours truly, for Rolling Stone magazine.

When the door of the enormous vault swung open there was an audible gasp and an immediate silence that struck the room where we were gathered. Everybody there was filled with a sense and realization that this truly was a historic moment. Even Paul and Ringo were taken in by the glory of the moment, concealing their emotions by a few jokes and comical remarks. After a few minutes in which only one photographer was allowed to take the necessary snapshots, there was an enormous table being rolled into place, right in front of the vault. Four members of staff prepared themselves and slid into pairs of white handkerchiefs, not to damage the goods. And then the unhauling, pardon the blasphemous expression, started. 

It would take too much time and space to sum up everything that was stalled upon the table in front of us. But there were little notebooks, loose papers turned yellow by time, filled with scribbles and notes. There was sheet music, red, yellow and blue binders, rolls and rolls of taped material. And there was even a pressed record, only one, stuck inside a plain white sleeve. With every load put on the table, the crowd had to control themselves not to rush forward and to investigate. Guilty as charged… When, finally, the vault was emptied and the table was bending under its load, the meeting was adjourned. More publicity pictures were taken and we were brought into a little press conference auditorium to receive additional information. Here we learned about the further proceedings. As you are well aware by now, the official public release for the new album is set to May 20th. The pictures that were taken on the occasion will be used as extra material for a luxury CD / DVD box available from release date. We, the writing press, were given one picture to use in our articles leading up to this date. Furthermore we were given a digital copy of the album in order to listen to it and review it in the days leading up to the release as well as memory sticks containing all extra material in JPG or MOV format. (Everything obviously under strict conditions and with enormous consequences in case of misuse.) And now I could directly go on and tell you all about it, but as my colleague wrote before, we will do that in good Rolling Stone fashion. We’ll take a song a day, analyze it musically and compare it to the other existing songs within the Beatles discography. Once you’ve finished reading these 13 (!) reviews you’ll have a good overview of what a treat you’re in for.But today let’s focus on the package. In this day and age, in this YouTube era, we are quite used to the first stage of revealing a present is to show the unboxing of it. So without further ado…

As my lips are irritatingly sealed (for about one more day) about the content of the songs, or their melody, or the ones they do or don’t resemble, we’ll have to shift focus towards the outside; the sleeve. You just read my words where I stated that the one pressed album came from within the vault dressed in just a white sleeve, so, you would say, there is nothing more to it? Well, there you might be wrong. When the vault was emptied there was a lot of extra material piled up. And in this vast array of extra’s there were some clues, some ideas (mostly by John) on how to present the final product. The one image that we’re allowed to use in this article shows a glimpse of one of these scribbles from John's hand.

Our thoughts go immediately to the design of the ‘Let it Be’ album. The design basically consists of the square of the sleeve, divided into four equally sized frames. In these frames the faces of the FabFour are presented. In further comparison, even the placing of the members are identical on John's design compared to the Let it Be album. John himself top left, Paul beside him top right, Ringo bottom left and George bottom right. Unfortunately it’s very difficult to find out whether the design of the Let it Be sleeve was a silent pointer towards the hidden album. We’ll probably never know, if not Paul or Ringo would have some additional information on the subject. Are there any differences between the two designs then? Well, yes there are. Obviously the Let it Be sleeve consists of full colour photographs. The sleeve design to ‘the Unreleased’ or ‘Time Capsule’ album however is (according to Johns design and notes) meant to be black and white, and the heads of the Beatles are presented in a silhouetted manner, highlighting the iconic features of the FabFour around the Sgt Peppers album time. We’ve asked one of our designers within Rolling Stones Magazine to model a sleeve based on John’s instructions so that you’ll get a good idea of what you might be buying later this month. We’ll see how close we got.

As you would do after buying a record and you’re done gazing at the front, obviously you’d turn it over for additional information. Let’s do that and see what happens.   
No picture here, but thrilling news. As you all know, the backside of the sleeve is usually the place where you can read about the contents of the album. There’ll be another picture, a bit of text written by a trustworthy, well known person, giving the thumbs up. AND… there’s the listing of the tracks. And, dear readers, although I’m not (yet) allowed to go into the songs, i will state them here already. The 13 songs you’re dying to hear right now are:

Side A: (7 songs)

Aunt Rosie’s out of milk --- Lennon/McCartney (Paul)  
Hit me back --- Lennon/McCartney (John)  
I’ll be around --- Harrison  
Cleaning out my closet --- Lennon/McCartney  
The open door --- Lennon/McCartney (Paul)  
The wild one --- Lennon/McCartney (John)  
You after me --- Harrison

Side B: (6 songs)

The tale of Wanda & the peeker --- Lennon/McCartney (Paul)  
Fly --- Lennon/McCartney (John)  
Headmaster Ken --- Lennon/McCartney (Paul)  
Paint me --- Lennon/McCartney (John)  
When summer ends --- Lennon/McCartney (Paul)  
From before to whenever --- Lennon/McCartney

There you have it. This is what you’re looking forward to. Thirteen songs from your favorite artists. Two by the hand of George Harrison and the rest by Lennon/McCartney. I took the liberty to specify which of the two was responsible for the original idea, or the majority of the song. Where it is left out it’s a full on cooperative effort. And, as always, I dare say, in good Beatles fashion, there’s a song delivered into the capable hands of the faithful drummer, Ringo. On this album you’ll hear him sing ‘Cleaning out my closet’. (And without disclosing all too much I have to say it’s one of my favorite songs by him.)

This is it, dear readers. It feels like Christmas, I’m Santa and I’m still keeping the best gifts in the bag. Santa wouldn’t say it, but I will; Come back tomorrow for more inside information and more goodies to unpack and enjoy. Isn’t it good?

Gaelwin von Preder  
Rolling Stone Magazine


End file.
